On the Pacific Coast of California, right between San Francisco and Los Angeles, with the city's downtown resting around Morro Bay, lies the bustling metropolis of Esperanza. Home to nine hundred thousand people and a metropolitan population of nearly four million, the Central California city boasts three universities (including one ivy league), a strong nightlife, a growing music scene, the proud Esperanza Gold Diggers, and world famous sea food.

This is, of course, in addition to the growing ghettos, organized crime, and a corrupt city government led by mayor Nicholas Hoffman, who's currently in the midst of a campaign for governor, one which he's expected to win. And, as the services provided by society to deal with these problems are clearly not doing their jobs, it is up to the citizens themselves to find a way to deal with them.

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In this superhero RP, in addition to delving into the lives and struggles of every hero and every villain in the story, I want to make the city of Esperanza come to life. While I'm hoping to possibly make a map at some point, at the very least I will discuss districts and areas of the city, introduce local personalities, and talk about city history.

Because of this, I don't want every character to be a superhero or a villain; I want nurses, doctors, professors, newscasters, anything to help make the city feel more real. In addition, I don't want characters to simply be classified as heroes and villains; I want to see the lines of morality blurred, the concepts of good and evil to be consistently questioned and appraised.

If you're at all interested, please leave any comments or questions. I'm also looking for GMs if you're more interested in that.

Interested! What kinds of powers are we working with in terms of scale? Are they somewhat close to humans or is there a huge disparity? Also, how do these powers manifest typically in the world?

@Famotill It's a mix, and I'd rather hear specific ideas and approve them on a case to case basis. For me, it's a lot less about the powers, and more how they're manifested in the character. Do I generally want to see a character who can level a city by raising their hand? Not really. That said, if there's a really interesting idea, or if it works with the general framework of the other characters, I'd be open. Does that help? I mostly just want people to get creative with their characters without me having to give them arbitrary limitations.

@Ekreture
Yeah that makes sense. The idea I was thinking about was a hit-man/mercenary type character that has the ability to shape shift, but it takes quite a few days for the character to modify their body and copy the appearance of said target. Essentially he'd have targets, and would spend quite a bit of time studying them (psychologically, socially, appearance, mannerisms, etc.) then the process of shifting would be quite intricate (wrapping self in bandages, laying in a tub of ice for days, etc.).

The character would be a self-aware narcissistic and depressed person which would typically manifest itself in morbid deprecation and a bit of self-loathing. They know they aren't exactly playing by the right kind of rules, and it bothers them, but they are also vain and numbed to societal expectations.

Probably more info than was needed, but just the idea I was formulating. Not sure if that fits with your vision or not :P

@Famotill No that works great. Do you have any ideas as to how they would have gotten their powers? I've been coming up with new information on the city of Esperanza as well if you needed any information on that.

I wasn't sure if powers were a genetic mutation in this world or not, and otherwise I don't really have any idea lol. When it comes to an actual character sheet sure that'd be awesome! I guess my character would probably have at least a limited knowledge of criminal organizations and seedier parts of the city.

Thematically and aesthetically is it more clandestine superheroes willing to kill ala Batman, or more Supermen among us kind of deal?

@FiroIV As I stated above, I'm a lot more interested in the specific characters and the dynamics between them than I am in making general rules. As far as theme goes, no matter what sort of character exists, I want their morals to be questioned constantly. In general I'd rather avoid someone as powerful as a say Superman or Doctor Manhattan, but if there's an interesting idea behind, I'm open to suggestion.

@FiroIV@Famotill As far as the way people got their powers, I was thinking about it, and while I'm open to a wide range, a central plot, and one of the reasons Esperanza has so many people with powers, is a series of tests with radiative therapy during WWII and the Cold War, which caused mutagens to be released into the Esperanza area.

@EkretureAlrighty, I can work with that :)

Well, I will keep an eye on it for now.

@The Spectre Sounds good! Make sure to ask any questions you might have on here or a PM :)

@Famotill I actually have a few ideas if you want to PM me or if you'd prefer I set up a discord

I'm in! I assume there are probably a lot of different "factions" both in and out of super-life, right? Does the city have an official "hero" team? Are there gangs being lead by supervillains or use supervillains as hired muscle? Up-and-comers who need to decide where they belong and if they should even join a team? Be interesting to see gangs and heroic teams alike trying to poach new heroes off the streets.

Sigh. Don't feel pressured to answer all of that, I'm just spitballing. Moral grayness in superhero stories is something that sets me off, so I'm eager to see this develop!

In terms of characters, I was thinking a young hero with newly "awakened" (however you decide to handle the process) abilities on their first few days at being an independent hero. Power-wise, how does "dust manipulation" sound? An ability to control tiny particulate like sand, snow, dirt, etc. (within a reasonable range, of course)

@TMS Prime@Famotill@FiroIV@The Spectre discord.gg/q8Ced2 I can answer any questions on here

Yeah, I think this sounds pretty fucking great.

@raleighallynn Thanks! Do you have any questions, or possibly want to check out the discord?

@Ekreture I guess my only question is what can I help do to get this ball rolling? Because I'm in love with this idea. I will check out the discord, though!

OOC is up!

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